HELP! Left-Click doesn't open new page!!

Hi Friends!

Before I get to my problems, I'd like to wish everyone a VERY Happy and Healthy New Year!!

Now; here's what's going on with my browser;

I've been having a few problems with IE6-SP1.

It started happening within the last week or so, so before I bothered you guys, I made sure that my AV program was up-to-date; I scanned everything...no viruses found ; then I made sure that SpyBot S&D and AdAware were both updated....they were, and I have SpyBot set to scan on start-up, but I ran it again just to be sure....it was clean; then I ran AdAware...it was clean, too.

I went to MS to see if there were any security updates or patches, and there were no updates needed.

So, here I am to ask the experts what the heck is wrong with my PC?!?!?

When I'm visiting MOST, (but not all) web sites, I can't left-click on a link that's provided and visit the new page! I have to right-click, and then either click "open" or "open in new window" in order to view the link!!

I already checked out MS to see if there was a KB article on this problem, and there was one about making sure of certain settings in the "Internet Options "> "Advanced" page; I hadn't changed any of my settings in there, but I checked it anyway, and everything looked OK, (unless I missed something).

Since I don't have any viruses, spyware or malware of any kind, (unless I've managed to pick up something that nobody knows about yet !), WHY doesn't LEFT-clicking work on MOST of the hyper-links anymore?????

Any suggestions will be gratefully appreciated........I'm really confused about this strange turn of events!!

I don't know what info you need, but here are the basics;

Dell Dimension 8200
Windows XP-Home SP-1
IE6-SP-1
80 GB hard drive
512 MG RDRAM
Broadband connection

If you need any other info, just ask.

Oh, if Mike F. is going to provide an answer, I have a new e-mail address since you helped me with my probs last year, so, you'll have to PM me first to get my new address.

Thanks to anyone who is able to help me find out what's wrong!!

Gratefully,
Spookie

 

Have you installed any new soft or hard ware lately? Have you tried a simple System Restore?

Might want to try to repair IE.

Post back!

Johanna

 

The steps outlined in the MS KB article, You Cannot Open New Internet Explorer Window or Nothing Happens After You Click a Link should fix things up for you. (Have to scroll down past all the "symptoms" and "cause" stuff to get to the solution part)

 

Hi Everyone!

To Johanna......I checked my "PC-Activities Notebook ", (I didn't really name it that, but I do keep a notebook right by my monitor for keeping track of such things as; AV updates, SpyBot S&D and AdAware Updates, Windows updates, ANY downloads, etc., and I have gotten into the habit of setting a "Restore Point" before I add anything new. (who knew being compulsive would pay off!!

So, I checked my "little blue book ", and in the past 2 weeks, there have been several AV, SpyBot and AdAware updates; on 1/17 I set a "restore point" before I downloaded (but did NOT install), 2 OLD versions of Real Player, (I'm waiting till all the advice is in on which one is "safe" to use, as I've heard so much bad stuff about Real Player....but I digress.......after scanning both of those with my AV program, I set another "restore point ", and I installed the MS "Critical Update" KB832483. Then on 1/18; 1/19/; 1/20; 1/21/; and 1/22 there were updates on the programs I mentioned above. On 1/23 I set another "restore point ", as I WAS going to install one of the Real Players, but since I was still having this problem with the "Left-click ", I decided to see if anyone else had this problem.

And now, To Miz.......I went to MS to see if there was any info, and I printed-out the directions for your suggestion, Q281679. However; I'm a BIG CHICKEN when it comes to messing around with the Registry, so that's when I decided to ask the experts on this forum! I'm hoping that there's a site that I could go to and have my PC diagnosed to see if a problem exists.

Do you think that "PC Pitstop" would be able to fix the problem, or do I absolutely HAVE to make registry changes????

What do you think? Your guidance is greatly appreciated!

Spookie

 

Spookie,

Chances are you won't need to do any regediting. The regsvr32 commands usually fix this sort of problem. But should you need to edit the registry, it is quite safe to do if you fisrt right click and export any key you will be making modifications to. It will be saved as a .reg file which when double click and told OK, it will add itself back to the registry in original form should a problem arise. You can also back up the entire registry, and have the option add it back if you would feel safer. It appears from the things you have stated in previous posts that you are well qualified to do some minor regediting if need be (my opinion). Have confidence!

 

Thanks for your confidence in my abilities, Dave......I'm glad YOU think I can do these things!!! If you were able to hear me, I'm actually clucking like a BIG CHICKEN right now, and my hair is standing on end just thinking about messing with.....The Registry

Just to prove my point, I did a lot of research on MS yesterday, and I printed out all the KB articles relating to this problem, including the ones about registry editing. And here they sit....in a nice little pile.....waiting for me to get up the nerve to attack this problem.

Do you know what's stopping me, (other than total fear!!!!)?

I am embarrassed to admit it, but I don't have the FOGGIEST idea how to back up my Registry. I printed out the KB articles that give the step-by-step instructions.....I was ready to try it, until I read KB328035 "STOP Error Occurs When You Restore Backup Windows XP ". In this article, it sounded like I was almost guaranteed to have this happen, because the "Status" info after the "Resolution" instructions say, "Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in Windows XP ", (the OS I'm running).

Then it says that this problem won't happen if I use the "Automated System Recovery (ASR) Wizard to create the backup, and then restore the backup by using the ASR.

This probability of a problem occurring unless I performed yet ANOTHER "foreign" procedure of using the ASR Wizard, (which is something ELSE I've never heard of)....well, let's just say that I've become such a big chicken, that I already laid 3 eggs this morning!!!

How hard is using the ASR Wizard, and is it REALLY necessary to do all these scary-sounding things to fix this "left-click problem ", or is there an easier....less traumatic way to fix this???

Does anyone have any idea what caused this to happen in the first place....I've scanned for ALL types of malware that I can scan for, and my PC is squeaky-clean.....could something be avoiding detection somehow?? Would going back to the "restore point" before I did the MS Updates be worth a try before attempting something that I'm not comfortable doing????

Dave.....you mentioned that I could "export any keys and save them in a .reg file, and then....OOPS!!!....there goes another egg!!!

Seriously....if there's absolutely NO OTHER WAY to fix this problem than to do these horrible things to my PC, (which is ONLY a little over 1 year old....it's still a "baby "!!!), will you PLEASE write down VERY DETAILED directions, (in regular language....I'm not very fluent in "geek-speak ", although I AM trying to learn as much as possible!!), then maybe I'll get up enough nerve to attempt this procedure.

I know that the only way to get over my fear is to actually do this stuff, but I'm trying to avoid it for as long as I possibly can!!! (And, hey......it's nice having all these extra eggs!!! )

Just kidding.....as you probably guessed, I try to be funny when I'm scared, so I hope I haven't annoyed anyone too much.....I really appreciate the fact that anyone is even still reading this post!!

Any and all help, comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated!!

Cluckingly,
Spookie

 

Have you tried the regsvr32 commands? If not, give them a try first. There's a good chance they'll fix it and if not, you won't hurt anything trying it. They're harmless.

 

How about that KB832483 update? Does this problem at all conincide with the installation of the update? If so, and the regsvr32 commands don't do the trick, you might check in add>remove programs and see if you can uninstall it. You can always reinstall it. I haven't see anything about it being a problem update but I don't know for sure. I haven't installed it myself. I've been sitting on it for a while waiting to see if any problems pop up.

 

Hi Zander......

Dave mentioned the "regsvr32" thing in his reply, too...what is that any way, and isn't that "messing with the registry ", too???

 

Take another look at the link that Miz posted. Just under the "Resolution" heading you'll see it.

To resolve this problem in Internet Explorer, follow these steps:
Quit all programs that are running.
Click Start, and then click Run.
Type regsvr32 urlmon.dll, and then click OK.
When you receive the "DllRegisterServer in urlmon.dll succeeded" message, click OK.
If this does not resolve the problem, repeat steps 2 through 4 for each of the following files (in step 3, replace Urlmon.dll with each of the file names below):
Shdocvw.dll
Msjava.dll
Actxprxy.dll
Oleaut32.dll
Mshtml.dll
Browseui.dll
Shell32.dll (Windows XP and Windows 2000 only)

 

OK, Zander.....I have the instructions copied for the KBA , (the one that Miz referred to);

Please don't laugh, but before I start any of these steps, there's a sentence that has always confused me, but since I'm among friends.....I'll ask;

When it says; "Quit all programs that are running ".......does that mean my AV program, firewall, mail programs, WMP, etc., or are there only CERTAIN things I have to "quit "????

What's the BEST, and safest, way to "quit" everything that I need to, and then how do I "re-start" everything when I've fixed the problem???

(I told you I was new at this stuff!!!)

Embarrassed and ashamed,

Spookie

P.S. I'm assuming that I should set a Restore Point before I do ANY of this, right?

 

Windows always says "quit all running programs "...because it's a wuss.

Shut down Internet Explorer, Outlook Express (if you use it), WMP and your AV program. Leave the firewall going if you have one.

You can usually disable the AV program by right clicking on its icon in the system tray (the area around the clock, lower right-hand corner of the screen and, in XP, called the "Notification Area ") and clicking on the "Disable" entry in the menu that pops up. When you want to turn it back on, right click again and click on the "Enable" entry.

Right click on other program icons in the System Tray and choose whatever each calls their command to close... "Exit" is popular. If you use Weather Bug, it uses "Terminate Weather Bug." The volume icon (the little speaker) can be left alone.

All those programs are in the Start Menu (Start>All Programs) and can be restarted from there.

When you run the "regsvr32" commands, basically what you are doing is reminding Windows the files are there and it needs to pay attention to them.

 

Miz, are you by chance a teacher? You have a knack for explaining things in plain English, or pointing folks in the right direction.

That's how I interperet "running processes "- get to your desktop, and shut down whatever you don't need. If you want to shut down your firewall, go offline first. Make sure you enable it again before you go back online. I think the whole theory (and XP is much better at handling background programs than previous versions of Windows!) is that the less that is running, the more resources available and less chance of conflicts.

Spookie, don't be scared. Ya gotta crack a few eggs to bake a cake!

Johanna

 

Actually, the reason you're prompted to close all running programs is because if the installation adds a new version of whatever.dll and whatever.dll is in use, it won't be able update the file. This can lead to problems with the program you're installing if it needs a particular version of the file and it's not able to able to update it.

 

A teacher? Well, yeah, I taught high school for three years before the handsome young Navy pilot took me away from all that. It was exactly like An Officer and A Gentleman...only different.